More LN Licenses: Re:Zero, Monogatari, Your Lie in April, Zaregoto

Various light novel licenses have been announced recently, namely in the form of extending the scope of specific series that are already getting English releases.

Volume 1 (Japan Cover)

Volume 2 (Japan Cover)

Firstly, Yen Press has announced a license for the Re:Zero Ex spinoff novels. The first volume, which focuses on side characters Crusch and Ferris, will release in English on November 14th. So far there are two Ex volumes in Japan, the second one telling Wilhelm’s backstory.

The mainline Re:Zero series currently has three volumes available in English, with the fourth set to come out on June 20th.

More books in Nisio Isin’s Monogatari series have been licensed: the Black and White volumes of Nekomonogatari. These follow Nisemonogatari (releasing in two volumes, the first on June 27, the second on August 22), which follows Bakemonogatari (all three volumes are out) and Kizumonogatari (the one volume is out).

Nekomonogatari (Black) — November 21, 2017

Nekomonogatari (White) — January 30, 2018

Your Lie in April: Six People’s Etude (Japan Cover)

Also, a light novel tie-in for Your Lie in April (a manga by Naoshi Arakawa) has been licensed. (I mentioned this showing up on websites from online retailers earlier, but now it’s official.) It will release on July 25, 2017. The music-themed drama series had a popular anime adaptation that aired Fall 2014 to Winter 2015, which you can watch streaming on Crunchyroll. It sounds like the light novel (titled Your Lie in April: Six People’s Etude) is primarily a prequel story, but also features short stories about some of the side characters.

Vol 2 – The Kubishime Romanticist (Japan Cover)

Lastly, some good news for fans of Zaregoto. This hasn’t been officially announced yet, but it looks like the second volume of the series will be getting a new release. On Amazon there is a listing for Strangulation – Kubishime Romanticist: Hitoshiki Zerozaki, No Longer Human, and has a release date of February 20, 2018.

In January this year, Vertical brought over Decapitation – Kubikiri Cycle: The Blue Savant and the Nonsense User, which was a new release for Zaregoto volume 1. Del Rey had previously released volume 1 in 2008, followed by volume 2 in 2010. There are nine volumes total in Japan, plus some spinoff material. Hopefully more of that will make its way over into English, following volume 2!

Maybe they’re doing with Zaregoto what they did with Monogatari? Release the first volume, see how the sales go, and then license the later volumes. There was about a year long gap between Kizu and Bake too. Either way, I want to see the whole series, mostly because I’m a mystery series lover and unlike Monogatari there doesn’t seem to be much Zaregoto information floating around.